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[Screamapillar]

360 wasn't backward compatible with the first Xbox, it was just whatever Microsoft decided to put on Xbox Live marketplace through title-by-title software emulation.

To me this is a complete non-issue. Backward compatibility is the least important thing when talking about a new console. It should be the last thing on anyone's mind. If it's there, cool, why not, but if it's not, who cares? Hold onto your old system if you think you'll be playing old software again someday.

 

[Beelzebub]

"Hey consumers, your wants are backwards! TV is what 100% of gamers use their game consoles for! Buy XboxOne!"

 

[JHall]

Isn't the PS4 not backwards compatible?

 

[The Bookerman]

What about the digital future for all of the platform holders? If you buy something digitally, it should be yours indefinitely. Incompatible hardware is a big hurdle to that ideal. What happens after XBone's successor? Will you still be able to download/activate its software?

Oh I agree, but at the same time, I maintain that nintendo's cpu solution, to favor backwards compatibility with the wii(that probably nobody cares anymore) was Dumb.

 

[Vormund]

I dont recall this much of an outlash at the ps4 for not being BC? But then again i dont think their exec made a stupid comment like this. They need to learn that sometimes saying nothing is better

Simply put: Sony didn't phrase it like arrogant assholes.

 

[Neff]

I like watching old films, listening to old music, reading old books, and playing old videogames.

I guess I'm just not hip or 'with it' enough for Microsoft.

 

[Ran rp]

I bet he high fived someone after coming up with that phrase.

 

[freddy]

Isn't the PS4 not backwards compatible?

I think the bigger deal here is the way the guy phrased it.

 

[Tylahedras]

Microsoft needs to stop talking. NOW.

 

[Ramblin]

I think people are taking his quote as an insult to those who appreciate bc. But, and maybe this is obvious to some, if you're focusing on the past you're not paying full attention to the future.

 

[Item_Screen]

But then they wouldn't be able to sell you '360 Classics'. I can't wait to rebuy 360 games that I already own digital versions of.

 

[Busaiku]

Cable TV is the future.

 

[JHall]

I think the bigger deal here is the way the guy phrased it.

Oh okay. I'll be sticking to my PC this next gen anyway. Maybe I'll jump in if I see any games that catch my eye at E3.

 

[Sylver]

Really, what's happening with M$?

 

[Shinta]

This must be why they have no 360 exclusives this year. Don't want to be backwards.

Simply put: Sony didn't phrase it like arrogant assholes.

Not only that, they specifically talked about eventually giving everyone 3 generation-deep BC through Gaikkai.

 

[metalslimer]

I think people are taking his quote as an insult to those who appreciate bc. But, and maybe this is obvious to some, if you're focusing on the past you're not paying full attention to the future.

You know I gave Sony shit for what will probably be a botched Gaikai implementation of cross platform play, but at least they give a shit. Sometimes things are not about looking forward. It's about appreciating the past and celebrating it especially in a hobby like gaming

 

[BasilZero]

It just gets better and better each day.

 

[KageMaru]

What has to suffer? This is an era where you don't need to do hardware BC. Create an emulator.

EDIT - Don't get me started on Sony for PS3 / PS2 BC. They actually have an emulator done but won't release it because they want you to buy digital titles (which I would be fine with if they had their entire library up there).

How is this an era where you don't need hardware BC? You act as though creating an emulator is some simple task that they can just do it.

Same for Sony and their emulator situation. You have no idea how stable or how many games their emulation supports, so why assume they are holding things back to make more money?

 

[Fried Food]

It's finally hit me. That gif is misleading. The guy offscreen moves his hand up over over molyneux's. They were on track to collide before the guy did that.

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

Suddenly, I'm back to May 2006.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Oh wow lol

This is Sony 2006 levels of arrogance, I don't know whether to laugh or cry

 

[BigDug13]

BC has worked on PC for decades. But an increase in hardware power results in you being able to pump the graphics up to max. Then players create their own graphics packages for old games to make them look current gen. Example, modding Morrowind to look as good as Skyrim.

But BC on consoles has never offered that way to breathe new life into old titles so I guess it's never been as needed.

But every once in awhile, you do want to play an old game. Like I wanted to replay San Andreas after they made the GTAV announcement and without an Xbox1, I relied on the BC of the 360 to replay San Andreas.

With zero BC, I wouldn't have been able to do that. (Though since I have a PC, I picked up the graphically superior version anyway.)

 

[Akira_83]

I get really tired of this attitude, maybe I want to play an older game sometimes? Nobody bitches out others if they want to watch a movie that is 10+ years old. Gaming still has some growing up to do...

Sure but if you want to watch that VHS you can't play it on your bluray player can you?

 

[beril]

Stupidest quote of the year?

Personally I don't care about BC; I've never traded in a console in my life; I currently have 7 consoles next to my tv and a bunch more readily available on a shelf. But most people don't live like this. And it seems like Microsoft is placing a lot of focus on having the Xbone being the ONLY entertainment box in the living room. But apparently you also need a 360.

I think BC would have been a much bigger deal this time around, with digital purchases and online gaming in general. If you actually were to have only one box in the living room I don't really see that being one of the new consoles anytime soon. Maybe they'll get a handful of decent first party exclusives and prettier versions of most cross platform games in the first couple of years, but I'm really not sure that will be enough for people to give up their entire library of old games.

Right now they're not really doing anything to encourage their current customers to stick with them the next generation, or to make it a smooth upgrade. I guess you keep your friend list, but as an early adapter you won't be able to play anything with 90% of the people on that list anyway.

 

[Xilium]

While I like having BC, I have to agree that from a business standpoint, it's really not worth the investment.

If you take the Nintendo/Prior Sony approach, you're including hardware from a previous console generation in your new system, driving up the cost of said system for everyone to benefit a few. If you take the proposed PS4 approach, you're investing a ton of money to create a streaming service and making the gamble that it will ultimately turn a profit in the future. Sony probably bought Gaikai more for the social aspects of a streaming service to bolster the appeal of PSN+ and being able to stream PS3 games as a means of BC was just a bonus. That said, I think the list of games that they might make available for BC is going to be pretty limited to 1st party stuff and PS3 bestsellers, since they have to dedicate servers to hosting any BC games.

Mattrick's wording is a bit unfortunate but I think his point stands.

 

[KageMaru]

BC has worked on PC for decades.

I just want to point out that BC has worked on the PC because of the APIs. It's not really the same on consoles where devs typically have lower level access to the hardware.

 

[Giant Panda]

And the PS4 is not being held back because they can provide BC (albeit not completely for this generation) in the cloud. His point is made based on narrow assumptions which can be made untrue, just by looking around at what others in the electronics industry are doing right now.

That could very well work poorly and have lots of lag, to me that is quite a poor solution for PS3. PS1 and PS2 games should be able to work through software emulation anyway.

 

[shaowebb]

So in other words he talks a bunch of BS numbers as a way to justify the inevitable re-releases they will charge folks for just like with the 360. Remember when both 360 and PS3 were going to be backwards compatible? Then they'd use update patches to add old games to the console? Then they said to hell with everyone and put the old games up for sale and did away with it and called it fixed.

 

[rjc571]

He said only 5% of customers play older games on a new videogame system anyway

I guess that means they won't bother selling any old games on XBLA, then.

 

[Windu]

he is right, but could have been said better.

 

[Zeppelin]

Being backwards compatible means you have to honour old and possibly inferior architectures, unless you're prepared to take financial cost of bolting the old hardware onto the new, or are able to emulate it. To that extent Mattrick is right, but I doubt that was his line of reasoning...

 

[The Spoony Hou]

Same logic as Sony.

 

[TwEE-N-Toast]

out of all the issues that plague Xbox One, this is not one

keep your 360 around if its an issue

thats what i do

unless your living at home with your parents, you should have no need to sell the current system to afford the new one (and if so you should reconsider your hobbies) and space should not be an issue as the 360 isnt that huge

People getting scolded on the internet about their life choices for thinking BC is important? Nice!

 

[Zeppelin]

That could very well work poorly and have lots of lag, to me that is quite a poor solution for PS3. PS1 and PS2 games should be able to work through software emulation anyway.

Can't wait to see that clusterfuck launch. People spinning the input lag will be hilarious.

 

[diffusionx]

He's right, though.

Remember, thanks to Live and custom emulation profiles, they know exactly how many people used BC on Xbox 360.

For all the talk about BC, it's just an irrelevant feature after a short amount of time.

On PS3 and 360 maybe 1% of my time was spent on old games. Maybe 1%.

 

[DyTonic]

So all your 360 games can now be used as frisbees >.<

 

[uuaschbaer]

is the PS3 literally going to vanish from homes when PS4 comes out?

No. It is far too large for that.

 

[Curufinwe]

Isn't the PS4 not backwards compatible?

Not with PS3 games, but I think you will be able to buy PS1 and PS2 classics from the PSN Store and play them on your PS4.

 

[Dysun]

BC is nice but it's never been a deal-breaker for me. I own the old systems and I'm not gonna pack them up when their big brother gets here.

 

[metalslimer]

Same logic as Sony.

No its not otherwise they wouldn't have blown so much money on the Gaikai initiative. Sony realizes that playing old games is important to people, but knows that full BC would hurt the PS4 in the long run

 

[MisterHero]

Oh I agree, but at the same time, I maintain that nintendo's cpu solution, to favor backwards compatibility with the wii(that probably nobody cares anymore) was Dumb.

Nintendo's method is ultra clunky, but at least you can keep your downloads and transfer them to Wii U in Wii mode.

There are millions of games out there, with millions of controllers and peripherals that would suddenly go to waste because they weren't compatible.

It was less possible before because controllers were wired, but now they have the option of keeping them around. IMO future electronics should become more compatible, not less.

 

[Item_Screen]

Sure but if you want to watch that VHS you can't play it on your bluray player can you?

The difference here is that this is digital content, and it's in the same format. It's not an upgrade in quality like DVD or Bluray. What happens when they release '360 Classics' for download on Xbox One and you have to re-purchase games that you already bought digital versions of on 360?

 

[akidnamededdy]

I mean...wasn't Halo 2 the most played game on LIVE pretty much until Halo 3 came out?

BC is a nice feature to have. And maybe it is hard/costly enough to implement it in the Xbone to where it's just not feasible.

But they really need to do something about their tone with this shit. Especially after yesterday.

 

[RDreamer]

I feel like BC is getting more and more important, actually, even though we're seeing less of it now. I don't trust my PS3 and certainly not my 360 to last all that long. This generation has really just been shitty unreliable for consoles. If I could be assured that if I bought a PS4 or a Xbox One it would play my old games, then I'd jump on that much quicker. In fact I jumped on the PS3 far quicker than I otherwise would have because at that time it was a replacement for my PS2 and a new console. The new console in and of itself wouldn't have been worth it at that point. Not until another price drop, anyway.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Sure but if you want to watch that VHS you can't play it on your bluray player can you?

nope, but they just rerelease the movies on the new format, its so nice!

 

[i-Lo]

While he could well be statistically correct, that's an awfully condescending way of putting it. For these people who thrive on PR double speak and jargon, this is a blatantly blunt statement bereft of pretense.

 

[Deified Data]

BC is nothing more than a bullet point.

It's a great feature that would sell me on a console.

But since we're never going to see it again I'm just putting it out of my mind.

 

[Jobiensis]

If you are going to have games as a service, then backwards compatibility is important.

Good news is since XBO is not backwards compatible, there is no reason for me not to switch sides to PS4.

 

[Zeppelin]

The difference here is that this is digital content, and it's in the same format. It's not an upgrade in quality like DVD or Bluray. What happens when they release '360 Classics' for download on Xbox One and you have to re-purchase games that you already bought digital versions of on 360?

No, it's not the same format. The bits making up a 360 game means different things to the 360 hardware and the One hardware. If they are going to release Classics they have to port the code to the new architecture.

 

[Gaz Pwnage]

Man, I am quickly starting to despise this absolute idiot and his fucking cheesy grins